[gkinberg]

I know that some people think of Monster as a four letter word but I bought a monster surge protector almost 10 years ago. I have 5 of the 7 outlets occupied and the set up has become unstable. When I turn on my reciever, about 33% of the time the switch on the monster strip gets tripped and all of the things pluged into loose power. I need to fix this today. Eventually, I would like to get something that is no more than $200 that will offer surge protection and some amount of line conditioning. But in the short term, I am considering picking up two power strips that have surge protection in them. I currently have 9 items that need power but will soon have 11 or 12 items that need power. I think that all of these items are on two different circuits but not sure about that. Suggestions are appreciated for both short term (today) and long term. Thanks, Garth

[Speedskater]

I would go with a whole house surge protection system ans some sort of a power switching unit. If you go with just outlet strips get one with lots of receptacles.

[Doublej]

How much do you want to spend in the short term? I went with Tripp Lite, see thread below.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=109358.0

[gkinberg]

Thanks guys, short term "solved". Using a couple of power strips found out in the garage. Admittedly very short term fix. Leaving town for a bit so needed stability for the house sitter. Upon returning will start to decide on how to address real surge protection. Eventually want to address power conditioning although I'm not even sure I need it. I'm just assuming that I do. Is there a way to tell if one's power is "dirty"

Thanks, garth

[Speedskater]

From the Middle Atlantic Products, paper:
 
Integrating Electronic Equipment and Power into Rack Enclosures
Optimized Power Distribution and Grounding for Audio, Video and Electronic Systems

http://www.middleatlantic.com/pdf/PowerPaper.pdf

Power Conditioning
“Power Conditioning” is a very misused term, with no industry standards to allow adequate comparison. Numerous products are marketed to “cure” AV system noise, lock-ups, reboots and various power quality issues. Many of these are sold partly by fear, partly by swindling and mostly on misleading “education” that lacks any basis in accepted engineering principles, meaningful data or realistic demonstrations.

Some people may install power conditioners because they are led to believe that “conditioned power” will improve the way the system sounds or looks. However, except in rare and extreme situations, these attributes are determined primarily by the quality and topography of the safety ground system and the integrity of the signal path of interconnected equipment, not by the quality of the AC utility power.

Two examples of such extreme situations where power conditioning may make a difference include:

- when power is fed from a utility source that is shared by a nearby user of industrial machinery that injects high levels of RF noise, such as some welding equipment
- when using electronic equipment with cheaply made and poorly designed power supplies, instead of higher quality equipment that provides adequate noise rejection.

Most power conditioners are essentially low pass filters that are designed to attenuate high frequencies. However, for AV systems, problematic noise frequencies are under 25 kHz and are essentially unaffected by power conditioners, whose filtering action is typically effective only at frequencies over about 50 kHz.

The following common problems result in many undesirable situations, including hum, buzz and noise in AV systems, none of which are solved by power conditioners:

see page 38 of the paper for the chart.